U2 Tour Rumours 2023
Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2022-08-03)
Please note: Until tours are officially announced, we mark all information in regards to them as rumour, even though we do endeavor to post only reliable information that has been shared with us by multiple sources. The below discusses not yet announced performances, and should be considered as rumour at this time.
Summary (See details below):
- Crew were asked to hold schedules open for the second half of 2023 for possible live performances.
- KROQ radio teased shows at the Sofi Stadium for an Irish band in 2023 before playing “Where the Streets Have No Name”
- Previously reliable source suggests Soldier Field may have been booked for two shows in late Summer / early Fall.
- A rumour about U2 booking a stadium in Dublin is not true, our source confirms the booking was for another band.
Update: August 1
Our source for the information about Dublin has shared that it wasn’t U2 booking a stadium for Dublin next summer, and indeed was a different act. The local gossip was that it was U2 making the booking at the venue, but now that the booking is finalized, it has been identified to be another act. We’ve removed the information about Dublin below to prevent any confusion.
Update: July 28
Over the last week we’ve been given information about a number of different stadium bookings and we are being told that this ties into U2’s potential plans. A previously reliable source of tour information has shared that Soldier Field in Chicago has been booked for two big shows for late Summer / early Fall. And it is suggested that it is U2 holding that space. KROQ radio hinted that an Irish band booked several dates for Sofi stadium for shows in 2023 this week before playing “Where the Streets Have No Name” (Thanks to Monopoly for that information!) Sofi stadium is a new venue, opened in late 2020 in Inglewood, California. (We previously listed information about a possible stadium booking for Dublin as well, but it was since confirmed it was not U2 making that booking.)
Although most of the news coverage has been about dates for Vegas at this new Sphere venue (see below), it looks as if U2 may be booking some dates in stadiums for 2023 if these are true. There appears to be some tour planning and routing going on behind the scenes. The Las Vegas Sphere complex is expected to open in the Fall and is expected to be open by November 2023. All of these rumours are about dates that are more than a year away. These are likely preliminary bookings to hold space at this time, and we expect it may be some time before a tour is confirmed and put on sale. But everything suggests the band will be making a return to performing next year. There’s certainly a wealth of rumours circulating at the moment.
We will continue to update this report as new information is made available. See below for our earlier report.
Original Story: July 23
U2 fans were surprised by Billboard Magazine on July 22 as a possible residency in Las Vegas starting in 2023 by U2 was mentioned. We cannot confirm these rumours with a second source, and all information points back to Billboard at this point. But it’s not the first mention of U2 making plans to return to the road next year, which we have been tracking for some time.
News first reached us in early 2022 that crew who typically work the U2 tours had been asked to keep their schedules open from June 2023 onwards. That suggested U2 had plans to perform next year. More recently we started hearing that the band had plans to do some outside performances in Europe next year, possibly a stadium tour or Festival appearances. But we were told that U2 had not signed off on the proposed tour plans at that time. It appears that the band may have finally signed off on doing performances next year, and we expect rumours will start to pick up steam from here. Usually the rumours start about a year ahead of the tours.
Willie Williams was reported to recently (last weekend) be in meetings with the band in the South of France to discuss plans for some 2023 performances.
The Billboard article suggests that U2 will be the first band to perform at the new MSG sphere complex in Las Vegas, currently under construction. The article suggests that the band has booked several nights at the venue, stretching over several months, but the shows will not be on consecutive nights during that time. It looks like the band may be planning on doing several shows there, but they also may be leaving the door open to do other performances in North America. They could also be in the early planning stages of the tour and are keeping options open to use the venue at several points, which may be whittled down later. They have planned multiple tour routes in the past before choosing the one that they follow. Billboard was unable to reach MSG or U2 for comment on the rumours.
The opening date of the MSG Sphere has not been revealed, but it is said they are working towards having the venue ready to go by November 2023. The venue which will be connected to The Venetian, can hold 20,000 standing or 17,500 in a seated configuration. The sphere is being built as a state of the art complex, including interior and exterior LED technology which will be fully programmable. It opens the possibility for bands to create an entirely new environment by transforming the walls, floors and roof of the venue. Also said to be included are other new technologies which may generate scent, or even wind in the venue, and there will be advanced speaker technologies delivering individual audio to each guest via 164,000 speakers. Imagine the entire venue transforming into the view from above the earth, and actually seeing the Bedouin fires from space as Bono sings about them in “Beautiful Day”.
The venue is being built by Madison Square Garden Entertainment in conjunction with The Venetian Resort. A second sphere is being constructed in London, with construction expected to start in March.
More about The Sphere can be seen in the “Sizzle Reel” below:
RTÉ has shared that “nothing has been confirmed and a spokesperson for the band told RTÉ that U2 are unlikely to be releasing a statement regarding stories of a Vegas run and so it is speculation for the moment.”
It’s very early, and any shows in Las Vegas are likely to be more than a year away. Being more than a year out, any tour rumours are preliminary at best and we urge caution before making any non-cancellable plans based on unconfirmed dates, regardless of the source.
There are many rumours, and some confirmed information about projects that have not yet been announced. This fall will see the release of Bono’s autobiography Surrender. A 40-song compilation of reworked U2 classic songs is rumoured to be released soon as well. The band will receive a Kennedy Center Honor in December of this year. And a line of Funko toys, delayed from earlier in the year will also be out in November. The band is also expected to participate in another Record Store Day release in November of this year.
Next year, expect the band to release the first album of new songs since 2017’s Songs of Experience. We are told that this album was substantially finished earlier this year in California on the album. An announcement of possible tour dates could accompany either release, but we expect it may be saved to accommodate the new album release.
It’s looking like the U2 machine is starting to gear up for the next couple of years. We’ve spent the last couple of years of semi-quiet to upgrade the site and introduce some new features. We’ll be here to report on what we hear and see, and are quite excited to see where U2 takes us next.
For more information about these projects we’ve collected some links from around the site below:
- Songs of Surrender Discography Entry (Information about the upcoming release of remade U2 classic songs)
- Upcoming Releases Page (We keep a running list of rumours and quotes about upcoming projects here.)
- Funko Toy Announcement
- Surrender Book Announcement
- Promotional events for Bono’s book Surrender
This article was first posted on July 23, 2022. It was updated on August 3, 2022.
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